Ronnie O'Sullivan defeated a spirited David Gilbert on Monday morning, whilst John Higgins got his campaign off to an excellent start against the fancied Ryan Day.

Ronnie O'Sullivan had to be on top his game to see off David Gilbert (photo: Sporting Life)

Ronnie O'Sullivan becomes the first seed to make the second round after a good performance from David Gilbert pushed him all the way.

The Rocket launches

Leading 6-3 after the first session, Monday's Crucible crowd were expecting Ronnie O'Sullivan to make light work of David Gilbert, but the world number 22 made life difficult for the Rocket.

O'Sullivan failed to get off the mark in the opening frame of the session, as breaks of 60 and 62 pulled Gilbert back into the match. O'Sullivan responded with the following two frames, including a 101 break in the twelfth frame to give him an 8-4 lead. Yet Gilbert showed his fighting spirit with two frames of his own as he sought an upset.

O'Sullivan put himself within one frame of the match with a 51 break in the fifteenth frame, before Gilbert struck back oncemore with a 71 as the pair continued to exchanged frames. Favourite for the tournament O'Sullivan then eventually sealed the match with a 72 break as he edged the contest 10-7.

Great Day for Higgins

Some people predicted an upset by Ryan Day against John Higgins, but the former World Champion produced the performance of the tournament thus far as he raced into a 7-2 lead.

The Scotsman began with breaks of 105 and 79 as he quickly found his form, before Day hit back with a 73 and 55 in a high quality opening. Yet Day was not to see the number next to his name change again as Higgins took control with some more excellent snooker.

Another century break in the fifth frame restored his advantage, before two tight frames edged him even further clear. Higgins as good as put the match to bed with a 77 and 105 as Day failed to score in the final two frames of the session. The pair will lock horns oncemore on Tuesday afternoon.